More thought provoking quotes from Richard Stearns, out of his book The Hole in Our Gospel.  I HIGHLY recommend it…but only if you want to be challenged!

“…more than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that.  Almost 10 million children will die in the course of a year.”

“It’s not what you believe that counts; it’s what you believe enough to do.”   ~Gary Gulbrandson, as quoted by Richard Stearns

“Think for a moment of your life as a house with many rooms.  Your faith cannot be just one more room in the house, equal with your job, your marriage, your political affiliation, or your hobbies.  No, your faith must be like the very air you breathe, in every room of the house.  It must permeate not just your ‘Sunday worship’ or even your vocation and your behavior at home, but also your dealings with everyone around you—including the poor.  That’s how deep the commitment must be.    So what does God expect of you then?  Everything.”  

“…one of the most powerful reasons we don’t totally surrender our lives to Christ is that we don’t want to sacrifice the things we possess; they have begun to possess us.  …We cling to them, often out of a desire for security, comfort, and happiness, even though we know in our hearts that we can only find real happiness by serving the Lord.  …God can’t give you the blessings He has for you until you first put down the other things you are clutching in your hands.”

“But authentic faith, rooted in the heart of God, is expressed in deeds done to ease the pain of others; it is imbued with personal sacrifice, and it comes with a cost.”

And I’m not half way through the book yet…